Wednesday, October 28, 2015

NCES Releases the 2015 Nation's Report Card for Mathematics and Reading for grades 4 and 8

The National Center for Education Statistics has released The Nation’s Report Card: 2015 Mathematics and Reading. Performance results are reported for the nation overall, for states and jurisdictions, and for 21 districts participating in the Trial Urban District Assessment (TUDA).The findings are available online at the Nation’s Report Card website.

Both fourth- and eighth-grade students score lower in mathematics than in 2013; scores higher than in 1990

No score increases for any student group in 2015 compared to 2013

In 2015, students had an average score in mathematics of 240
points at grade 4 and 282 points at grade 8 on separate 0-500 point
scales. The 2015 average scores were 1 and 2 points lower, respectively,
than the average scores in 2013. Scores at both grades were higher than
those from the earliest mathematics assessments in 1990 by 27 points at
grade 4 and 20 points at grade 8.

Percentage of fourth-grade students at or above Proficient lower compared to 2013

In 2015, forty percent of fourth-grade students performed at or above the Proficient
level in mathematics, which was 2 percentage points lower compared to
2013, the previous assessment year. Students performing at or above Proficient
on NAEP assessments demonstrate solid academic performance and
competency over challenging subject matter. The percentage of
fourth-grade students performing at or above the Proficient
level in 2015 was 27 percentage points higher compared to 1990, the
first assessment year. The percentage of fourth-grade students
performing at or above the Basic level was also higher compared to 1990.

Lower percentage of White fourth-grade students at or above Proficient compared to 2013

In 2015, the percentages of White fourth-grade students who performed at or above the Basic and Proficient levels were lower compared to 2013. Lower percentages of female fourth-grade students performed at or above the Basic and Proficient
levels compared to 2013. In comparison to 2013, lower percentages of
students attending town and rural schools performed at or above the Proficient level in 2015. Compared to the first assessment year in 1990, the percentages of students who performed at or above the Proficient
level were higher for all racial/ethnic groups with reportable results
as well as for male and female students. See the graphic below for more
achievement-level results by student groups.

Percentage of eighth-grade students at or above Proficient lower compared to 2013

In 2015, thirty-three percent of eighth-grade students performed at or above the Proficient
level in mathematics which was 2 percentage points lower compared to
2013, the previous assessment year. Students performing at or above the Proficient
level on NAEP assessments demonstrate solid academic performance and
competency over challenging subject matter. The percentage of
eighth-grade students performing at or above the Proficient
level in 2015 was 18 percentage points higher compared to 1990, the
first assessment year. The percentage of students performing at or above
the Basic level was also higher compared to 1990.

Lower percentages of White and Black eighth-grade students at or above Proficient compared to 2013

In 2015, the percentages of White and Black eighth-grade students who performed at or above the Basic and Proficient levels were lower compared to 2013. Lower percentages of male and female eighth-grade students performed at or above the Basic and Proficient
levels compared to 2013. In comparison to 2013, lower percentages of
eighth-grade students eligible for free/reduced-price school lunch
performed at or above the Basic and Proficient levels, while the percentage of students performing at or above the Basic
level was lower for students who are not eligible. Compared to the
first assessment year in 1990, the percentages of students who performed
at or above the Proficient level were higher for all
racial/ethnic groups with reportable results as well as for male and
female students.

Average reading score for fourth-grade
students not significantly different in comparison to 2013; eighth-grade
students score lower than 2013

Scores not significantly different for most student groups at grade 4 and lower for most at grade 8 in comparison to 2013

In 2015, students had an average score in reading of 223 points at
grade 4 and 265 points at grade 8 on separate 0-500 point scales. The
2015 average score was not significantly different at grade 4 and was 2
points lower at grade 8 compared to 2013. Scores at both grades were
higher in 2015 than those from the earliest reading assessments in 1992
by 6 points at grade 4 and 5 points at grade 8.
The table below shows the score changes for fourth-grade students
by columns and the score changes for eighth-grade students by rows. As
indicated in the first column of the last row, scores for students
eligible for the National School Lunch Program and those identified as
having a disability were higher in grade 4 and lower in grade 8 when
comparing 2015 to 2013.

Percentage of fourth-grade students at or above Proficient not significantly different compared to 2013

In 2015, thirty-six percent of fourth-grade students performed at or above the Proficient
level on the reading assessment. The apparent one-percentage point
increase compared to 2013 was not statistically significant. Students
performing at or above Proficient demonstrate solid academic
performance. The percentage of fourth-grade students performing at or
above this level was higher in 2015 than in 1992. The percentage of
students performing at or above the Basic level was also higher than in 1992.

Percentages of fourth-grade students at or above Proficient not significantly different compared to 2013 for all racial ethnic groups

The percentages of White, Black, Hispanic and Asian-Pacific Islander fourth-grade students who performed at or above the Proficient
level in 2015 were not significantly different in comparison to 2013,
but higher than in 1992. The percentages of male and female students
performing at or above the Proficient and Basic levels
were not significantly different from 2013, but higher than in 1992. In
comparison to 2013, a higher percentage of fourth-grade students
eligible for free/reduced-price school lunch performed at or above Proficient in 2015.

Lower percentage of eighth-grade students at or above Proficient level in comparison to 2013

In 2015, thirty-four percent of eighth-grade students performed at or above the Proficient
level on the reading assessment, a 2 point decrease in comparison to
2013. A lower percentage in comparison to 2013 was also seen for
students performing at or above the Basic level; however, the percentages of students performing at or above the Basic and Proficient levels were higher in 2015 than in 1992.

Lower percentage of White students at or above Proficient level in comparison to 2013

In comparison to 2013, lower percentages of White students performed at or above the Basic and Proficient levels as well as at the Advanced level in 2015. A lower percentage of Black eighth-grade students performed at or above the Basic
level than in 2013. The percentage of students whose parents had some
education after high school or had graduated from college who performed
at or above Proficient were lower than 2013. Higher percentages
of White, Black, Hispanic, and Asian/Pacific Islander eighth-graders
performed at or above the Proficient level in 2015 in comparison to 1992.

The results from the 2015 assessment are compared to those from previous years to describe change in fourth and eigth-grade students’ performance in mathematics and reading over time. Performance results are presented as NAEP scale scores and as percentages of students at the Basic, Proficient, and Advanced achievement levels. The report also includes information about the performance of different student groups, as well as performance gaps by gender and race/ethnicity. NAEP results date back to the early 1990s.

Results for the nation reflect the performance of students attending public schools, private schools, Bureau of Indian Education schools, and Department of Defense schools. Results for states and districts reflect the performance of students in public schools only and are reported along with the results for public school students in the nation. Charter schools are included in the public school samples at the state level. For the Tribal Urban District Assessment, charter schools are included only if they contribute to the district’s Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) reported to the U.S. Department of Education.

Students who took the mathematics assessment responded to questions designed to measure their understanding of mathematics in the areas of: number properties and operations, measurement, geometry, algebra, data analysis, statistics, and probability. Students, who took the reading assessment, responded to questions designed to measure their reading comprehension across two types of texts: literary and informational.